Top 25 Roundup

Georgia, Boise State and Oregon State suffer Week 1 losses

ATLANTA -- Christion Jones became the first Alabama player since at least the 1940s to have two returns for touchdowns, Vinnie Sunseri brought back an interception for another TD, and the top-ranked Crimson Tide overcame a sluggish offensive performance to beat Virginia Tech 35-10 on Saturday.

Jones scored on a 72-yard punt return less than two minutes into the game, then scooted loose on a kickoff for a 94-yard touchdown that led the Crimson Tide (1-0) to a win that could've been much tougher to start its quest for an unprecedented third consecutive national title.

For good measure, the junior receiver also hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to blow it open against the Hokies (0-1), who largely shut down AJ McCarron and Alabama's highly touted offense.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Second-ranked Ohio State got off to a quick start. After that, it was a bit scary.

Braxton Miller threw two touchdown passes before fighting leg cramps and Jordan Hall ran for two more scores to lead the Buckeyes to a 40-20 victory against Buffalo on Saturday in the season opener for both teams.

The Buckeyes, striving for a crisper start from coach Urban Meyer's debut in 2012, led 23-0 after the first quarter before the Bulls made things interesting. Joe Licata threw two TD passes and linebacker Kahlil Mack returned a Miller interception 45 yards to make it 30-20 in the third quarter.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Marcus Mariota threw a touchdown pass and ran for two additional scores and the No. 3 Oregon Ducks made easy work of lower-tier Nicholls with a 66-3 victory in the season opener Saturday.

Mariota, who set an Oregon record with 38 touchdowns last season as a redshirt freshman, completed 12 of 21 passes for 234 yards before sitting after the third quarter when the Ducks had built a 45-3 lead.

Mariota also ran for 113 yards for his second career game with more than 100 yards rushing.

De'Anthony Thomas ran for 128 yards and two more touchdowns for Oregon in the debut of new head coach Mark Helfrich.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina All-American Jadeveon Clowney looked less than dominant against North Carolina, not that it mattered to him or the sixth-ranked Gamecocks.

Clowney shook off a stomach virus earlier in the week -- and some sluggish play during the game -- to help South Carolina's defense hold North Carolina to its lowest point total under head coach Larry Fedora in a 27-10 victory to open the season Thursday night.

Mike Davis ran 75 yards for a touchdown while Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson each threw long scoring passes to put the Gamecocks in front. Clowney and company made it all stand up.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel served his suspension for No. 7 Texas A&M in the first half on Saturday against Rice.

In the second half he hit the ground running -- and apparently running his mouth, too -- as he threw three touchdown passes and scrambled for 19 yards and the Aggies wrapped up a lopsided 52-31 win against the Owls.

He was suspended until halftime for what the school said was an "inadvertent" violation of NCAA rules involving signing autographs.

His first touchdown of the season came on a 23-yard pass to Mike Evans on A&M's next drive. Manziel scrambled for eight yards on third-and-7 on the play before the score and appeared to mimic a signing motion while talking to a Rice defender after getting up from the tackle.

He drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a touchdown throw in the fourth quarter when he was jawing with the defense again and then pointed at the scoreboard. He was replaced by Matt Joeckel on A&M's last drive.

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Tajh Boyd threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two others, Clemson's defense sacked Aaron Murray four times and the eighth-ranked Tigers stung No. 5 Georgia 38-35 on Saturday night.

Boyd had scoring passes of 77 yards to Sammy Watkins, 24 yards to Zac Brooks and 9 yards to Stanton Seckinger. Boyd also added TD runs of 4 and 2 yards to win the lone matchup of top 10 teams in college football's opening weekend.

The Tigers took the lead for good, 31-28, on Chandler Catanzaro's 24-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Coming off an 11-2 finish and a Sugar Bowl upset of Florida, Bridgewater and the Cardinals dominated. That pleased a sellout crowd of 55,332 seeing them for the first time since that BCS win set off the school's remarkable run of success that included an NCAA men's basketball title, the women's team's runner-up NCAA finish and an appearance in College World Series.

Bridgewater kicked off his Heisman Trophy campaign by going 23 of 28 for 355 yards. Damian Copeland and Kai De La Cruz each caught two touchdowns and DeVante Parker and Robert Clark each had one.

Dyer, the former Auburn star, debuted for Louisville and the Cardinals outgained Ohio 615-273.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Mack Brown had a career day, Jeff Driskel was efficient and No. 10 Florida opened the season with a 24-6 victory over Toledo on Saturday.

Brown ran 25 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Driskel completed 17 of 22 passes for 153 yards and a score. And Florida's defense, which ranked fifth in the country in 2012, looked every bit as good as last year's version despite losing eight starters and its coordinator.

The Gators controlled both lines of scrimmage, opening holes for Brown and keeping steady pressure on Toledo's experienced spread offense. It was exactly the style of play Florida has become known for under third-year coach Will Muschamp. No flashiness. Few highlight-reel plays. But a win in the end.

PITTSBURGH -- Redshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns -- while rushing for a score as well -- in a spectacular debut and No. 11 Florida State dominated Pittsburgh 41-13 on Monday night.

Winston was nearly flawless, completing 25 of 27 passes as the Seminoles gave the Panthers a rude welcome to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Rashad Greene caught eight passes for 126 yards and a score and Nick O'Leary hauled in three touchdown passes for Florida State.

The Panthers had been pointing to the opener from the moment the program announced the move from the Big East to the ACC nearly two years ago. Playing in front of a rare sell-out, Pitt simply couldn't keep up with the defending league champions.

Tom Savage passed for 201 yards and a touchdown for Pitt but also threw a pair of interceptions.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Terrence Magee ran for two touchdowns after halftime, Zach Mettenberger threw for 251 yards with a key late score and 12th-ranked LSU held on for a 37-27 victory against No. 20 TCU late Saturday night.

Odell Beckham's 75-yard kickoff return set up a 20-yard TD pass from Mettenberger to Jarvis Landry with 6 minutes left.

All in all, despite a crucial fumble and a three-and-out in the fourth quarter that kept the game uncomfortably close, the Tigers' first game with new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron calling the plays provided a promising start to the season.

And that replenished defense after losing a team-record eight players to the NFL draft came up with some key plays.

HOUSTON -- J.W. Walsh threw for 135 yards and ran for another 125 and a touchdown to lead the No. 13 Oklahoma State Cowboys to a 21-3 win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Texas Kickoff on Saturday.

Walsh finished 18-of-27 passing after relieving starter Clint Chelf on the Cowboys' third series. Jeremy Smith rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries for Oklahoma State (1-0), which piled up 432 yards on offense after struggling for most of the first half.

LaDarius Perkins rushed for 50 yards on 16 carries and caught three passes for 52 yards for the Bulldogs (0-1), which had only 333 yards of offense and had trouble keeping drives going, finishing two of 16 on third-down conversions.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Tommy Rees threw a pair of 32-yard touchdown passes to DaVaris Daniels, a 66-yard scoring pass to Troy Niklas and Notre Dame had three quick scoring drives en route to a 28-6 victory against Temple on Saturday.

The 14th-ranked Irish jumped to a 14-0 lead on a pair of three-play drives on its opening two possessions and appeared headed for a blowout. But when the Notre Dame offense stalled, Temple squandered a pair of scoring chances, with Jim Cooper Jr. missing a pair of field goals. An unsettled feeling settled in at Notre Dame Stadium when Kenny Harper scored on a 1-yard run to cut the lead to 14-6. The Irish regained control, however, with Niklas' TD with 43 seconds left in the half.

The victory by the Irish (1-0) was the 200th career win for head coach Brian Kelly. The Owls (0-1) fell to 2-76 all-time against ranked opponents.

AUSTIN, Texas -- David Ash threw four touchdown passes and ran for another as 15th-ranked Texas shook off a slow start to roll over New Mexico State 56-7 Saturday night.

Ash threw two interceptions in the second quarter and the Longhorns' new up-tempo offense stalled as the Aggies took a 7-0 lead. Ash then connected on touchdown passes of 54 and 66 yards to John Harris and Daje (duh-jay) Johnson in the final two minutes of the first half.

In the third quarter, Ash turned a scramble into a 55-yard touchdown and passed to Malcolm Brown for a 74-yard score. After falling behind, Texas (1-0) scored 35 points on 15 snaps and finished with a school-record 715 total yards with Ash accounting for 434.

Andrew McDonald was 32-of-46 passing with one touchdown, but also had two turnovers for the Aggies (0-1), who went 1-11 last season.

Oklahoma gave head coach Bob Stoops his 150th career win, putting him seven behind Barry Switzer on the Sooners' career coaching wins list. Oklahoma is 5-0 under Stoops in August games and 14-1 in home openers, having lost only to Texas Christian in 2005.

Knight became the first Oklahoma quarterback to rush for 100 or more yards in a game since Jason White had 117 yards rushing against Kansas on Oct. 13, 2001. A redshirt freshman, Knight was the fourth freshman quarterback to start a season for Oklahoma in modern times, joining Steve Collins (1989), Eric Moore (1995) and Sam Bradford (2007).

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Devin Gardner ran for two touchdowns and threw for another in the first half as No. 17 Michigan went on to beat Central Michigan 59-9 on Saturday.

It was the highest-scoring opener for the Wolverines (1-0) since 1905, when they beat Ohio Wesleyan 65-0. They will face a tougher test against No. 14 Notre Dame next week at home in a prime-time game.

The Chippewas (0-1) fell behind 35-6 at halftime Saturday. After they gave up five consecutive touchdowns, Ron Coluzzi's third field goal made it 56-9 with 3:12 left in the game.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Ameer Abdullah and Imani Cross each ran for more than 100 yards, Taylor Martinez passed for three touchdowns and 18th-ranked Nebraska survived two late turnovers to defeat Wyoming 37-34 victory Saturday night.

The Cornhuskers, who won their nation-leading 28th consecutive opener, scored on four of five possessions after trailing 14-10 early in the second quarter and then had to hang on as Wyoming made it a game to the end.

The Cowboys converted two late Nebraska turnovers into touchdowns to pull within 37-34 with 1:32 left. Nebraska recovered the onside kick after Brett Smith's 47-yard TD pass to Robert Herron.

Wyoming's defense held, and the Cowboys got the ball back on their 6 with 1:07 to play, but time ran out on them before they could even get to midfield.

SEATTLE -- Keith Price threw a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes to become the school's all-time leader, and Washington returned renovated Husky Stadium with a stunning 38-6 blowout of No. 19 Boise State on Saturday, the worst loss in Chris Petersen's tenure as the Broncos head coach.

Price was intercepted on his first pass in the Huskies newly renovated home on the shores of Lake Washington. And he was nearly perfect from there, the first step in putting a disappointing 2012 season in the past.

Price completed 23 of 31 passes for 324 yards. He found Kasen Williams on a 19-yard TD on Washington's first possession of the second half and his 18-yard strike to Josh Perkins gave Washington a 24-6 lead late in the third quarter. It was Price's 56th career touchdown, passing Cody Pickett as Washington's all-time leader.

PASADENA, Calif. -- Brett Hundley passed for 274 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for two more scores, leading No. 21 UCLA's second-half surge to a 58-20 victory against Nevada on Saturday night.

Jordon James rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown, and Phillip Ruhl returned a blocked punt for a short touchdown as UCLA thoroughly spoiled the debut of Nevada head coach Brian Polian with a 41-point second half.

Shaq Evans had six receptions for 81 yards and a score, and Malcolm Jones caught a late TD pass during a dominant effort by the UCLA offense, which piled up 647 total yards.

Cody Fajardo passed for 164 yards and rushed for two TDs, but the Wolf Pack couldn't keep up in their debut under Polian, the 38-year-old picked to replace Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Collin Ellis returned two interceptions after deflected passes for touchdowns to help No. 22 Northwestern spoil Sonny Dykes' debut as California head coach with a 44-30 victory on Saturday night.

Ellis had a 56-yard return in the third quarter and then put the Wildcats (0-1) in control when he took another one back 40 yards midway through the fourth to take a 10-point lead.

Those were rare blemishes on an otherwise strong debut by Jared Goff, who became the first true freshman ever to start the season opener for the Golden Bears (0-1). Goff went 38-for-63 for 445 yards and two touchdowns and Cal also scored on a fake field goal on the opening drive in an entertaining start to Dykes' tenure.

HONOLULU -- Southern California still doesn't have a clear starting quarterback and head coach Lane Kiffin is already taking criticism from fans after an unimpressive win in Thursday night's season opener.

But Kiffin says it's most important that the Trojans started their season with a win, giving him more time to evaluate Cody Kessler and Max Wittek as he decides which passer gives his team the best chance to win.

Justin Davis ran for 74 yards and a touchdown and No. 24 USC's defense picked up for a shaky offense, masking Keller and Wittek's mixed performances in a 30-13 win against Hawaii.

Kessler salvaged a bad start with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor then gave way to Wittek early in the third quarter as the teammates took turns auditioning for the starting job.

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Vernon Adams passed for 411 yards and ran for 107 and the go-ahead score with 18 seconds left as Eastern Washington upset No. 25 Oregon State 49-46 on Saturday to become the third FCS team to beat a ranked FBS team.

Adams overwhelmed the Beavers in a performance in sure to attract attention around the nation. He threw for four touchdowns and ran for two, completing 23 of 30 passes despite leaving the game twice -- once with cramping and a second time after taking a hard hit near the sideline.

Adams returned, though, and scored on a 2-yard run to put the Eagles up 49-46. It was the first time a team from the Football Championship Subdivision has defeated a ranked team from the Football Bowl Subdivision since James Madison beat Virginia Tech in September 2010.